Darkness
by TheShoelessOne
Summary: POV: Sora. A fic from the point-of-view of Sora when he is plunged into Darkness in order to free Kairi's heart.


My eyes flitted to the enormous door engraved with the Heartless insignia. Why hadn't it closed? Why was there still a path between the worlds? Donald's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and he, too, seemed to be thinking, only out-loud.  
  
"You can't seal the Keyhole without all of the Princess' hearts," he mused in his odd little voice. He rubbed his feathered hand against his bill in thought. A pang of pain shot through my chest, and I pressed my hand against my heart, remembering.  
  
"And Kairi's heart..." I clutched the chain around my neck, feeling the cool metal beneath my warm palm, "is inside of me..." I gripped the chain harder in my fist, wincing slightly at the pain. Goofy's head inclined slightly towards me.  
  
"Sora?" he asked, as if reading my thoughts. The chain pressed painfully into my hand, but my thoughts weren't on myself then, in those fleeting moments. They were on her. Kairi's pale, limp body lay mere feet in front of us. Stinging in the corners of my eyes may have yielded tears if I hadn't been trying so hard to hold them back. My emotions finally decided to take charge, and my feet moved without my asking them to. They began plodding toward Riku's fallen Keyblade. My mouth formed words that weren't mine. It was like I was watching myself do these things.  
  
"This Keyblade," I said, picking it up, "can unlock people's hearts, right?" It was as cold as ice in my sweating palm. Goofy's head shot up in alarm, and Donald turned to face me, his eyes wide in shock.  
  
"Sora! What are you doing?" Donald squawked. I turned the dark Keyblade deftly in my hands, the sharp point barely pricking my shirt. For a split second, I considered resigning this idea, but one glance at Kairi's innocent body lying as if dead on the stone cold floor strengthened my heart... for as long as I would have it.  
  
Knowing what fate awaited me, and what fate Kairi would face if she went without rescue, I turned to face Donald and Goofy, my friends, who were now mobilizing toward me. Throwing everything into one last smile, I gave them the most heart-felt, caring, and sorrowful smile I could muster... one last time.  
  
With one quick thrust, I plunged the Keyblade into my chest. A quick shock of pain was all I felt. Donald skidded to a halt in front of me, his mouth agape. All of the pain in the world started sliding away from me. I was only dimly aware that I was falling toward the ground, but every fiber of my being turned to get a last, long look at Kairi...  
  
She was moving.  
  
And intense feeling of relief, sorrow and love surged through my disappearing heart. I was going.  
  
Good-bye, Kairi...  
  
Good-bye, Donald, Goofy...  
  
Riku... Mom...  
  
I saw Kairi's pale hand reach out for me as I fell. I could almost... If I could just...  
  
Kairi!!  
  
"Sora!"  
  
Darkness broke over me like a wave over the cliffs of the ocean. I wanted to cry out, vent my rage... But nothing came... Nothing but...  
  
Darkness. Total and eternal Darkness.  
  
Nothingness surrounded me, filling every sense. I couldn't see. I couldn't smell, feel or hear anything in this ever darkening, endless void. Breathing was just a memory. Or was it? Memory? What was a memory? Did I ever feel? Did I ever breathe? Could I see once? What was seeing?  
  
Thoughts, in a steadily decreasing stream, flowed haltingly from my mind. Decaying memories of times, places and people passed through the dark gaps forming in my knowledge. Parents, forgotten. Home out of mind. Only Darkness, ever present and ever growing, was accepted in the endless vaults of the underworld. At last, the final memories dripped from my mind.  
  
But not one.  
  
One memory firmly established itself as unable to leave my body and mind in the flowing Darkness. A name. It came to my mind with instant meaning... and with the sharp report of a clear voice, like the ringing of pure light, I felt myself again.  
  
"Sora!!"  
  
"Kai...ri..." My lips formed the word as if I hadn't spoken in millennia. As I spoke that name in the rapidly breaking Darkness, I felt again. The first sensation started in my fingertips. It spread through my body like warm liquid sloshing against every surface my body came into contact with. I felt the solid floor beneath my feet. Real, solid ground. In my arms was the warm body of a human. My body felt her grip around me. Without even opening my eyes, I knew who this body belonged to, and I gripped her close to me, feeling her realness.   
  
"Kairi," I said her name again, "Thank you... Kairi..."  
  
My eyes opened slowly, adjusting painfully to the light swimming around Kairi and myself. Or was that just my imagination? Whatever it was, I knew that Kairi was here with me, and I was no longer falling into Darkness. My blue eyes fell on Kairi, and I immediately thought that she must have been an angel. No other creature could have looked as beautiful as she did at that moment. Before I could breathe again, my breath caught in my throat. She was Kairi.  
  
I remembered.  
  
Everything I had forgotten in the Darkness swept over me then. As if trying to hold onto reality, I held the angelic girl as close as I dared. Her dewy eyes turned to mine.  
  
"Sora... You're back."  
  
Speech. Could I possibly talk to such a beautiful angel, one that had saved me from the brink of Darkness... the edge of death?  
  
"I couldn't leave you Kairi."  
  
Our embrace broke. I looked at her, hopelessly, foolishly, wishing that she would never again leave. She looked to me with her sweet, caring smile that never seemed to leave her face. She shook her head, smiling.  
  
"Oh, Sora."  
  
"Never change, Sora..."  
  
"Never change..."  
  
End. 


End file.
